Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos: A review of the Charitable Foundations for the year 2014

February 1, 2015

This year I completed twenty (20) years in this Holy Metropolis and I can say that I have devoted much of my ministry to the functioning of the charitable foundations. I have worked with five (5) Mayors, and the current Mayor is the sixth (6th) in my term, and I have also worked with many members of the Boards who have alternated over the years, because they are representatives of various organizations, while I have remained permanently as President all these years. It is natural that I have had good and bad moments.

Of course, from the very beginning I could decline this responsibility, since I had the opportunity not to accept the presidency of the Foundations, but I accepted, on the one hand because I respected the wishes of the donors, and on the other hand because I saw in front of me the demands of the local society, who wanted to activate the assets of the donors for the good of our fellow men.

I would like to emphasize two points, namely to make a few general remarks and then an overall report for the previous year (2014).

1. General comments

By chairing the Foundations-Endowments I always have in mind that the desires of the Benefactors-Donors must be satisfied, and also that everything has to be legitimate. This is not always easy, because we do not have the expertise, but I have tried to do it as best as I could with the help of legal advisers etc. Some comments are necessary.

a) From the beginning, that is twenty years ago, when I took over the Presidency of the Foundations, I discovered their incorrect operation - and I say it very politely - and introduced public accountability in order to have transparency and thereby to be legally right. I do not know if such a public account is given elsewhere. Perhaps scholarships are awarded publicly, but it is not usual to have a public account and the President to face critique. I did this because I know that everything is done with transparency and I have nothing to hide and fear.

b) The members of the Boards undertake this work selflessly, without any reward and the same applies to the President. Because the burden of the operation of the Foundations falls mainly on the President, not only I do not have any material benefit from this task, but I consume time and energy for their good functioning and I am the one who receives various criticisms.

The Offices of the Metropolis are also burdened with this task and the people of the Office work in good spirit for the secretarial support of the Boards, mainly in response to my request and seeing my own labors and sacrifices. I must add that the Holy Metropolis helps, materially too, for the proper functioning of the Foundations.

c) The Foundations function well, despite the current economic crisis. I know that in other regions of our Country, similar Foundations function poorly or do not meet their goals, or, worst, their President and members are in custody awaiting trial or convictions have been issued against them.

Our own institutions work well, meet their purposes, and have cash reserves, despite the problems arising from the economic crisis, which affected the Foundations in two ways.

First, revenues have decreased, because in many cases tenants do not pay the rent, and we try to collect them by various ways, even in court, which is time consuming and costly. And in many cases the properties are vacant because there are no applications, or, in other cases, tenants have asked for rent reductions.

Secondly, the State instead of alleviating the tax burden of the Foundations, because they perform an important social function, increases the tax burden. For example, this year, rent revenues of the Papacharalambio Foundation amounted to 81,718 euros, while the taxes paid to the Tax Office (income tax and ENFIA) reached 63,400 euros. You realize, then, that most of the income that is collected with difficulty from the rents is paid to the State and a minor part of it is used to fulfill the wishes of donors.

d) I notice a tendency by some citizens and various organizations to seek to use the Foundations for their own benefit. That is, there are some who seek to downgrade the Institutions. Of course, this is a general problem, as people are interested in increasing their own wealth and in violating what belongs to the State or to the Foundations.Everyone should respect the Benefactors and their will, which is protected by the Constitution of our country.

It should be noted that cases where expenses exceed revenues are explained by the addition of the ENFIA tax this year, while in other cases there are uncollected rents and in still other cases the budget is balanced by using the reserves. Special effort is made to balance revenues and expenses, without reducing the reserves, i.e. the cash balance of the previous year.

b) The Foundations achieved their objectives, namely continued to give scholarships to pupils and students, as will be discussed below.Also the Papacharalambous Foundation, apart from scholarships, gave grants, namely: to the Papacharalambeios Municipal Band Music, the needy at the feast of Christmas, the American Hellenic Association and to Astir Athletic Club of Nafpaktos.

c) Special mention has to be made for the Foundation George Kapourdeli-Ioannou Xyki.

George Kapourdelis donated the land which continues to have great value. John Xykis deposited the sum of 781,632 euros to build the Nursing Home. After long efforts, I managed, mainly as President of the Foundation, to transfer to the Foundation the house of the heirs of Galani, and, after selling it, the Foundation received, together with movable property, about 955,592 euros and thus continued the construction of the building of the Nursing Home. The building has reached a good point and needs some more money to be completed and equipped.

Unfortunately, a defamatory campaign targeted against me resulted in legal battles. Namely, Mr. Xykis sued me and simultaneously a barrage of lawsuits, petitions, extrajudicial complaints, accusations, requests, etc. started in various judicial authorities and public services. Specifically, a lawsuit was submitted to the Prosecutor of Economic Crime, the Corruption Crimes Prosecutor and the Misdemeanors Attorney of Messolonghi with additional reports and memos. Reports were submitted to the Finance Minister, the Economic Crimes Enforcement Agency, the Economic Inspection of the Region of Western Greece, the Tax Office of Messolonghi, the Governor of IKA and the Director of the local branch of IKA in Nafpaktos, the Planning Director etc.

Eventually, the proper management of the Foundation was proved amply and very quickly, two auditors of the Ministry issued audit reports and a decree was issued by the Misdemeanors Attorney of Messolonghi and all slander went unheeded.The problem, however, is that I was slandered worldwide as an abuser and the sad thing is that any opportunity for offers for the completion of the work which would cover the needs of about 100 families, i.e. 60 resident elders and 30 unemployed people, stopped. Of course this was at the expense of all society and the state. I could add that what is even worse is that most citizens, among those who had knowledge and could speak, remained inactive in this slanderous campaign, although they realized my innocence and the selfishness of slanderers.

d) Among all these difficulties we are now pleased to announce the allocation of the amount of €45,650 for scholarships to pupils and students for the year 2015. If an amount of €7,200 awarded by the Kolokythas Foundation that has its own administration, is added, then the total amount given for scholarships sums to €2,850.

Specifically, the following scholarships are awarded for the year 2014-2015

1.Idryma Andreas Tsaras:Continuing scholarships:

Tricoupis John George (2200 euros)

Tsoumas George Christou (2200 euros)

Vettos Andreas Demetriou (2200 euros)

Lalopoulos Constantine Ioannou (2200 euros)

Skaliotis Panayiotis Constantinou (2200 euros)

Karakostas Christos Constantinou (2200 euros)

New scholarships:

Kapetanakis Thomas Panagiotis (2200 euros)

Goumas Evangelos Nicholas (2200 euros)

(Subject to the approval of the Regional Council)Total amount allocated for scholarships: € 17,600

2. Foundation Dem. Asimakopoulou:Continued scholarship:

Papasouli Emilia John (2350 euros)

New Scholarship:

Varela Basilike - Dionysia of Constantine (2350 euros)

(subject to the approval of the Regional Council)Total amount allocated for scholarships: 4,700 euros.

3. Foundation Gabriel Economou:A lump sum payment of 500 euros to male students who graduated from the two Vocational Secondary Schools of our city and excelled in their departments:1st EPAL

Constantine Mullas

George Nikolopoulos

Anthony Mavrelis

Basil Karagiorgopoulos

Miltiades Tsoukalas

EPAS

Dimitrios Charalampopoulos

George Sakoulas

Total amount allocated for scholarships: 3,500 euros.

4. Foundation Andreas Kozoni:It grants 140 euros per month to two students - poor and excellent – of the 1st Gymnasium of Nafpaktos from the First Grade until graduation from the 1st Lyceum of Nafpaktos provided they continue to qualify. Beneficiaries are:

Kalamaris Emmanuel Demetrius

Makri Hara of Stergios

Total amount for the school year 2014-15: 2,800 euros

5. Foundation George and Mary Athanasiadis –Nova:

It grants awards accompanied by financial aid of one hundred fifty (150) euros to top students (according to the graduating degree) per class of the Unified and Vocational Lycea of Lepanto.

Beneficiaries are:1st General Lyceum of Nafpaktos

First class: Chris Frantzolas of George

Second class: Zorba Christina Elias

Third class: Spyridoula Driva Anargyros

2nd Lyceum Nafpaktos

First class: Anthony Papadoulas Nicholas

Second class: Dimitrios Styliaras of Basilios

Third class: Athanasios Laourdekis Christos

1st EPAL (Vocational Lyceum) Nafpaktos

Third class: Spyridoula Angelopoulos Stavros

Total amount allocated for prizes: 1,050 euros.

Note that this year because of its limited financial resources, the Foundation does not provide financial awards to students.

6. Foundation (Student Scholarship) Dim. and Vas. Papacharalampous:

It gives lump sum financial aid (prize) of 500 euros to three excellent male students of each class as recommended by the Associations of Teachers of the 1st and 2nd General Lyceum of Lepanto.

Beneficiaries are:1st High School of Nafpaktos

First class: Chris Frantzolas of George (19.9)

Second class: Sotirios Zaimis George (19.4)

Third class: Thomas Melistas Vasilios (19.1)

2nd High School of Nafpaktos

First class: Anthony Papadoulis of Nicholas (19.6)

Second class: Dimitrios Styliaras Vasilios (20.0)

Third class: Athanasios Laourdekis (19.8)

Total amount allocated for student scholarship: 3,000 euros.

7. Endowment Dimitrios Ploumis:

Scholarships to students originating from Ampelakiotissa. The amount of the scholarship is set at EUR 125 per month (or 1500 per year).

Continuing scholarships:

George Konidas of Constantine

Athanasios Ploumis of Polycarp

Angelica Hronopoulou John

Panagiota Paul Christou

Epaminondas John Despotopoulos

Lamprini Kanellos Christos

New Scholarships

Miltiadis Tsoukalas Vasilios

Constantine Paul Christou

Total amount given for scholarships: 12,000 euros.

8. Endowment John Vardakoulas:

It grants an allowance of €500 to orphans and economically weak students of the 1st High School of Nafpaktos and, each year, rewards graduating students of the same high school who enter the University, if they come from economically weak families. The only criteria for the granting of aid are the performance and integrity of each candidate.

In the second and third grade of the Lyceum the award was divided among two students who qualify.Total amount allocated for prizes: 1,000 euros.

9. Kolokythas Foundation:

It grants scholarships of seven thousand two hundred (7,200) euros (600 euros per month) for one year to university graduates for postgraduate studies abroad.(An announcement was made by Mr. I. Raptis: for the academic year 2014-15 the scholarship recipient is Amalia Vasilios Theodoropoulou, Graduate of Pedagogical Department, to continue graduate studies in London)

Total amount paid for grants and aids from the Foundations and Endowments:€52,850

On the grants awarded one must add the Grants of the Papacharalambio Foundation for the year 2014

Greek-American ASSOCIATION: 500 EUR

ATHLETIC CLUB "Astir NAFPAKTOS": 1,500 EUR

dowry: (not given)

Student FELLOWSHIP: (mentioned)

For the Poor on Christmas: 3000 euros

PHILHARMONIC: 8,000 EUR

TOTAL: 13,000 euros

Total amount for scholarships and grants:65,850 euros

My dear,I apologize for doing this briefing, but I was obligated to do it for the Benefactors and the truth.Before I finish I would like to thank all members of the Boards not only for the past year, but for all these twenty years, the secretaries and support staff, i.e. people of the Offices of the Metropolis, the current Legal Advisor Mr. Dimitrios Pelekis who helps us in our work, Mr. Athanasios Mihos, whose selfless offer is important, and those who in various ways helped us and still help us.

I hope that the third decade now beginning for the foundations proves equally productive.